Generic Atripla

Feb 13, 2010

I was diagnosed about a year ago. Started on Atripla right away. CD4 went from 410 to 799; viral load from 105,000 to undetectable. Will be losing my Rx insurance and no way I can afford brand name Atripla on my own. I see ads on the Internet for generic Atripla. Is generic Atripla really available already? (I thought it is a new drug and that it takes years for generics to come on the market) I can afford generic, but how do I know it's genuine?

Response from Dr. Young

Hello and thanks for your post.

There is no generic "Atripla". There is a generic combination of the medications in Atripla (tenofovir, emtricitabine and efavirenz) that are manufactured in India marketed under the name Viraday (and probably othesr). It's not formally legal to import these generics into the US or Europe; as such I'm quite circumspect of offers that claim this (and harder to verify if it's the real thing).

If you're having difficulty paying for your meds, rather than risk a black market medication here, I'd start by having a conversation with your case manager or AIDS service organization. It's possible that there might be ways to get your medications with less cost.

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